Morbid
by crestwood
Summary: Teddy Lupin is nothing short of morbid.
**Disclaimer: Much of the plot is based on the film Restless. That film is written by Jason Lew and directed by Gus Van Sant. All of that is theirs and everything else you've seen before is JK Rowling's.**

* * *

"Drawing a noose isn't as easy as you would think. Knots can be quite difficult," said Teddy Lupin, seemingly to himself.

Teddy put the finishing touches on his drawing and admired his handiwork. He'd been working on it for weeks and was finally finished with his masterpiece; a photo-realistic depiction of himself hanging in an old-fashioned town square.

He pulled out his wand and, raising the picture up to his wall, performed a Permanent Sticking Charm. This was not the first time he had done this. In fact, he was slowly running out of space for any more of his artwork. The walls in his fairly large room were nearly covered with drawings and paintings of himself dying in various ways. There was a gunshot to the head, a lethal injection, and his favorite, the guillotine.

These works of art were just about as well received by Harry and Ginny as you would expect. Teddy never let that get in the way of his creativity and kept on sticking them all over his room. At first, the adults in charge of his safety were, understandably, concerned for his sanity. They sent him to every psychotherapist they could find. They tried cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, experimental psychology and any other kind of help they could find for the young boy. Teddy never seemed to mind meeting with those people. In fact, he seemed to very much enjoy the conversation constantly being centered on himself.

Eventually, the professionals admitted to being a bit stumped by the boy. And on his seventeenth birthday, Teddy was permitted to stop meeting with them. This left a question of what to do with him now. He didn't seem to have any particular interest in a specific career or line of work. After Teddy finished up his final year of Hogwarts, Harry pulled some strings within the Ministry and managed to earn him a spot in the Auror training program.

Teddy was an exceptionally gifted trainee. He showed incredible talent in every area of study and was absolutely on pace to finish the program and work alongside his Godfather. That is, before Michael McLaggen, presumably out of jealousy, made a disparaging comment about him being "talented for an orphaned offspring of a werewolf."

Shortly after, Teddy was thrown out of the Auror program when he, justifiably, struck McLaggen with the Blasting Curse. Since then, Teddy had not decided upon another occupation and had mostly resigned to his room at the Potter residence. It couldn't be said that no one was worried; it's just that they were used to it by that point.

* * *

The funeral director had done a good job on the service. It was an esteemed ceremony; not too haughty. Teddy Lupin sat alone toward the back, so as to avoid attention. He found it all amusing. The mother of the deceased wasn't doing too well. Many people burst into tears at random intervals. Teddy attempted to find a pattern, but it seemed everyone had a different reason to allow their emotions to overcome them. By the time the third close family friend had begun speaking, Teddy was beginning to feel restless. He abruptly stood up and made his way over to the refreshment table, earning a few dirty looks.

He poured himself a bit of tea as he stood by the table listening to the speaker that was rambling on about the _nature of bravery_ and why it was not a day for mourning, but a day to _celebrate life_.

He'd heard it all plenty of times. It seemed there were only so many topics suitable to talk about at a funeral. If they didn't go out particularly bravely, it seemed mandatory to mention that "they had their demons," but never, _ever_ specify just what those demons were. In fact, never say anything remotely negative about the dead, regardless of how you felt about them. It all came down to sugarcoating and polite remarks.

Teddy glanced at the mourners to his left and, to his discomfort, made eye contact with a girl his age. She had a short haircut and the palest skin he'd ever seen. He snatched his eyes away from her burning gaze, but when he finally permitted himself to sneak another look at her, he found her eyes, still fixated on him. And then, unexpectedly, she stood up.

She slowly crept over to him, as if she had all the time in world to make it there and had decided to enjoy the view on the way.

Teddy didn't think it smart to try and run. That'd only draw more attention to himself, of course. The girl approached Teddy, studying him with a curious smirk.

"Excuse me, do I know you from somewhere?" Teddy stammered.

"Well, I don't think so. Do you know anyone here?" she asked.

With a flustered look, Teddy scampered to opposite side of the room without responding. But, before he could make it back to his seat, he found himself cornered by the funeral director. The man pulled out his wand and confronted Teddy.

"This is the fourth service you've attended here in the past three weeks. Either your loved ones are in the midst of a war that I am unaware of or you're playing some sick joke," the man accused.

Teddy cursed himself for not thinking to change his appearance each time.

"I will not tolerate funeral crashing. Do you have any respect at all for the dead?" the offended man continued.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the pale girl who had approached him a minute ago interrupted the funeral director, "Oh hey, Franklin. I see you've met my cousin Larry!"

"Oh, well. Yes, I suppose we have met," Franklin sputtered, as he lowered his wand.

"Anyway, I think me and Larry have to leave now. He's got to Floo out early tomorrow morning. He's going to America to do some reporting work!" she lied.

"Well, have a safe trip Larry. Nice to have you here," he said, unconvincingly.

Teddy threw one last smug look at the director before the girl ushered him towards the door.

Once they made it outside, the girl threw her head back and laughed mischievously, before taking off at a sprint.

Teddy followed suit, easily catching up to her. Neither had a destination in mind-they were just running. Thick London air threatened to engulf them with each step. The lonely street didn't seem to understand what an important moment this was.

After what felt like years, the girl began to slow down. She was probably not in the same shape as Teddy, who was only months removed from Auror training. He brought himself to a stop alongside her.

"So, what is your real name anyway, Cousin Larry?" the girl questioned.

"I'm Teddy," he said.

"Hello Teddy. I'm Amelia Adkins, but I really do prefer to be called Amy."

"So—uh, how did you know the person from the..." Teddy began.

"I met Sara years ago at St. Mungo's. I was her primary healer," explained Amy.

"Oh, I'm really so sorry for your loss. I—" Teddy started, suddenly feeling immensely guilty.

"Teddy, I've lost just about 12 patients from the Ward. You eventually learn to distance yourself. I can't truthfully say it feels like my loss at all."

"That's a common coping mechanism, I've heard," said Teddy.

"I think it's best to minimize the suffering in the world, starting with myself."

"Amy, that makes more sense to me than you even know," Teddy responded, wholeheartedly.

* * *

There was something very abnormal about Teddy Lupin. Besides his fixation with death, funeral crashing and famous relatives, that is.

He only had one friend. And that friend was Merlin. Yes, that Merlin. He wasn't as decorous as one would expect from such a respected figure, I'll tell you. At first, he spoke in medieval English and didn't seem to notice that any time had passed at all since his death, but after years of conversing exclusively with Teddy, he began to pick up a modern way of speaking. He still sounded a bit behind the times, but you'll have to excuse him for that.

Merlin wasn't a ghost. He wasn't a person either. Teddy wasn't sure if he was real. He definitely felt like a sentient being, but, in actuality, that didn't quite make sense. Regardless of the nature of his existence, Teddy valued his friendship above all else.

"This girl was amazing! She was absolutely enchanting, Merlin," Teddy professed.

"What was she like?" Merlin asked, curious to hear about anyone who'd gotten Teddy so thrilled.

"She had the most beautiful way about her and big blue eyes. Then the director caught me crashing another funeral and she told him that I was her cousin Larry. She's a healer at St. Mungo's! You've got to be smart for that. After we left the funeral, she laughed as loud as she could and just started running," Teddy enthused. "I've never met anyone like her before."

"You attended another funeral service uninvited?"

"Is that all you got out of what I just said?" Teddy laughed.

"Possibly," he admitted, before adding, "I've got a new one for you, Teddy."

"Let me hear it then."

"You are my brother, but I am not your brother. Who am I?" quizzed Merlin.

Teddy's serious features gave way to a smirk. "You're my sister. You'll have to try harder than that next time."

As strange as it would seem to most, Merlin was Teddy's best friend.


End file.
